PIA Press ReleaseMonday, January 02, 2012

45,712 households in North Cotabato benefit from Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program

KIDAPAWAN CITY, January 2 (PIA) -- The Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) or Conditional Cash Transfers (CCT) has a total of 45,712 household-beneficiaries in North Cotabato (Cotabato Province) as of year-end 2011.

Benilda Cortez, 4Ps North Cotabato provincial link said the 45,712 households cover the following municipalities: Pikit with 10,712 which is the highest; then Carmen-5,3[71; Matalam-4,285; Alamada-3,766; Pigcawayan-3,508; Arakan-3,313; Aleosan-2,911; Magpet-2,834; Banisilan-2,724; Tulunan-2,712; Tulunan-2,712 and Antipas-948.

Cortez said the grantee-households' age brackets of their children are: 6-14 years old-169,040; 3-5 years old-26,752 and 0-2 years old-15,278.

The households with pregnant mothers total to 1,499, according to Cortez. She also said there are 4,413 indigenous people-beneficiaries and 886 households with persons with disabilities. On the other hand, 35,264 households engage in farming, forestry work and fishing.

The 4Ps provincial link said the current household-beneficiaries will increase in 2012, with the ongoing registration for incoming grantees from Kidapawan City, M'lang, Makilala, Libungan, Kabacan and Midsayap.

The 4Ps is a poverty reduction and social development strategy of the national government that provides conditional cash grants to extremely poor households to improve their health, nutrition and education particularly of children aged 0-14.

CCT is one of the responses of the Philippine Government to the challenge of meeting the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) of eradicating extreme poverty and hunger, achieving universal primary education, promoting gender equality and empowering women, reducing child mortality and improving maternal health. (OTSudaria/PIA 12).